COTE: Class D's Masked Guardian

Vol 1. Chapter 12 - Horikita Suzune

I guess the president doesn't understand the emotions that well, huh? While not an easily exploitable weakness, it was a chink in his armour nonetheless. If he were to stray to the wrong side of the battlefield, I would exploit every little flaw I could identify, so this information was certainly useful.

"Thank you, Horikita. I really appreciate it." I let out a small smile to signify that I was truly grateful for her words, which seemed to surprise her.

"I-it's nothing. Again, it would be beneficial for us to have a student of our class join the student council, that's why I'm hoping you are given a role," said Horikita, frantically trying to justify her uncharacteristic display of vulnerability.

"You know, I prefer it when you're like this. Your 'ice queen' act was really deterring people away from you, including me. But right now, you seem a lot more vulnerable. I'm not saying it's a bad thing, in fact, I believe it's great to be vulnerable at times."

Horikita paused for a few seconds, processing my words. "I have no idea what you're talking about Ayanokouji-kun. I don't believe that I'm currently displaying vulnerability," she denied, although her quickly changing body language betrayed her statement.

"Horikita, I want you to remember one thing. Vulnerability is not a weakness. On the contrary, it is a strength; to be able to open up and act truthfully is a hard thing to do."

The girl turned her head towards me with her eyes widened and facial expression one of deep thinking. "I see... I'll keep that in mind, Ayanokouji-kun."

The first step to unlocking Horikita Suzune's potential was to shatter her defences.

The wall that was her superiority complex and relationship with her brother isolated Horikita from everyone indiscriminately. However, thanks to Chabashira's early intervention, her complex has been wearing down quite quickly. Of course, this was most likely because she recognised me as someone 'superior' to her, which I believe is similar to the case with her and Horikita Manabu.

This would explain president Horikita's seemingly unfavourable opinion of his sister. He had recognised the potential of Horikita Suzune, but found it frustrating that she constantly tried to emulate her older brother. He most likely tried something outlandish such as distancing himself from her, or even severing their relationship entirely.

As a result, younger Horikita has most likely started to even copy her brother's method of isolation, and cut people off before they could form any sort of relationship.

Naturally, this was all speculation, but it was a theory grounded in logic; the behaviour of the Horikita siblings pointed towards an outcome similar to the one I previously described, making it the most rational conclusion I could come up with.

From now until the future, the plan to reveal the younger Horikita's potential were already mapped out within my head:

Step 1) Breaking through her defences.

This, I was already close to achieving. All I needed to do now was to get her to interact with more people.

Step 2) Grow closer to her.

I have to be the person she considers the closest to her, whether it be a friend or... something else, I had to get it done.

Step 3) Break her.

As long as she remains weak, she is useless to me. The only problem with this is that Horikita Manabu would never let me get away with it.

However, beggars can't be choosers, and if I had to sacrifice material to promote a pawn, then so be it.